The Predator
by White Pickett Fence
Summary: Braii-Lynne is a killer, plain and simple. She has been trained to do so all her life. She has never failed a mission or refused to complete one until she is ordered to kill the Prince. Why?
1. Prologue

The concept in itself was very simple:

Get in, kill the prince and get out... and most importantly, do not get caught.

See? Simple.

That was my reaction too; open-mouthed staring, aghast at the simplicity of the task that the Council had placed before me. I was a trained to pull off stunts so dangerous and complicated, men quivered at the very thought of trying to accomplish what I had been doing for years and yet they place before me a job so simple, it dared me to screw up. My mind raced through the different scenarios, running faster then was really humanly possible. _Authority abuse? Cruelty? Just plain jealousy for his kingdom?_

You see, I had been asked to assinate many people in authority becuase they had all but looked at somebody else the wrong way. Money was the main reason. Oh how petty the Lords of the land were when it came to the riches of the people. For the greater good, I tried to convince myself, but I knew that they fought for nothing but the jingle of that godforsaken gold in their moneybags. It disgusted me more then anyone could ever know.

I was the prefect choice for the assassination, of course. Who would ever suspect the docile and shy Lady with stunning eyes that could never quite be defined as blue or green for they changed colour with her mood. Who would ever suspect the daughter of Lord Darren, the richest Lord under King Bernarde, with the beautiful brown locks. Who would ever suspect that the 16 year-old Lady Braii-Lynne with the slender and stunning body of a grown woman possessed the abilty to kill a man six different ways using only her pinky finger?

It was all rather irritating actually, keeping up the facade that the rest of the world knew as Lady Braii-Lynne Kastra when all I truly wanted to be seen as was Braii. But that dream could never be for I was a hunter, the predator, a killer.

Get in? Easy. Kill the Prince? Easy. Get out? Easy. Not getting caught? Easy.

If it was all so easy... why couldn't I do it?


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N This is my first fairytale so go easy on me. Sorry for any grammar mistakes. I tried to look over it but I might have missed some. I will try to update as often as possible but I am very easily distracted so if I forget, keep yelling at me till I do. Thank you! Critiquing is welcome with open arms.**

**.long**

I know, I know, _how did a Lady like yourself become what you are? _ It is really quite the fascinating story.

17 years ago, my parents met in a bar just outside of the King's city. He was studying in the Palace and had become very close friends with the Crown Prince himself; she was a runaway Lady hiding in the inn. They fell in love within weeks and two months later they were married in an extravagant wedding thrown by the King on behalf of his son's best friend. A regular Cinderella Story.

_Fascinating,_ right? Every Lady in the court absolutely swoons when they hear that story. They gush over the romance and fairytale-likeness of it all. I would rather die. I was born 7 months after the wedding and my parents have had far from the fairy tale life that the rest of the nobles believe. Sure, they were still madly in love but they were not pleased when their firstborn son turned out to be a daughter. Oh the things they had planned for their son Bartholomew. He would be the smartest, best-dressed, richest boy in the kingdom; he would be trained to be the King's strongest knight and leader of the King's Army. Of course, the arrival of me was a rude awakening to them.

At first they refused me from the family, but my nursemaid Dora convinced them that she had delivered me from my mother's womb. Once they finally came to terms with that fact, they decided to make use of me. From the very beginning, I was trained to speak both English and the Olde Language. I was taught battle techniques as well as sewing. I could kill a man with my bare hands before I had learned to ride a horse. I was trained to be the perfect lady by my mother and the perfect man by my father. I excelled in both lessons, not wanting to be the disappointment my parents already thought I was.

When I was twelve, I could take on father's closest and best-trained guard with only a staff in my hands. I was too small and quick for them to catch and I had learned to compensate for my disadvantage in strength with perfect blows to all the weakest areas.

The day of my thirteenth birthday, I was sent off to a my great uncle's because my parents had taught me everything they could and no longer had a use for me. Great Uncle Jephu or Uncle Jeph, as I liked to call him, loved me upon arrival. I was never just an object taking up space in his home, He compensated for all the love my parents never gave me twice over and he taught me my most important lesson, compassion. It wasn't until Uncle Jeph came into my life that I began to truly understand my talents.

Now, at the age of 16, I am the most lethal weapon the king has access to. Though he has no knowledge that I am the actual killer he continues to hire, he brags about me as though he were responsible for creating the monster I have become. There is no one in the world who knows what I do, no one who comprehends the danger of my life. Even the council, before whom I present myself every night in a black cape and a large hood covering my face, has no knowledge of my true identity or even my sex. To them I am the masked murderer and I can smell the fear coming from them when I walk into their meeting place.

The whole "being a Lady" thing really comes in handy, though. I can travel to whomever's home I'm supposed to murder and under the cover of the night, attack like the silent killer that I am and in the morning light I pretend that I am as horrified and disgusted as the rest of them. I take very much pride in my acting abilities as they are the one skill I discovered and honed for myself.

"Braii-Lynne! Get out of bed! You have to meet your parents at the dining table in 15 minutes!" The loud and obnoxious voice of the only motherly figure in my life boomed throughout the bedroom.

"I'm up! Stop hitting me with that towel! I am up!" I yelled back to Dora in my sleepy state.

She wasn't having any of it. After pulling all of my covers off the bed, she ordered me to the bathing room and watched to make sure I rinsed my entire face and brushed my teeth so hard that they gave off their own light. She then began forcing me into a gown because I wasn't going fast enough for her tastes. Once she finished ripping all the hair off of my head with the hairbrush, she deemed me 'acceptable' and sent me to what I like to think of as my own personal hell.

"Braii-Lynne, we wanted you half an hour ago and yet you insist on showing up when you feel it necessary. Do you even understand the mean of the word punctuality?" The disturbingly sweet sounding voice of my mother scolded. I dislike it immensely whenever she opens her mouth and I try to tune it out because I feel as though I have been drowned in a sugary pink wonderland. It disgusts me.

"My sincerest apologies, Mother, I did not know whether punctuality was of more importance than appearance. I shall remember this for the future." I had long since mastered the way to butter up my mother by speaking like the Lady she thought I should be.

"What your appearance is does not matter to me when there are matters of greater importance at hand." My father, Lord Darren, spoke in irritation. "A guest will be coming to stay at the Kastra Manor and I expect you to be on your very best behaviour. You will give our guest anything he needs, and I mean _anything_ Braii-Lynne."

I caught on to his subtle hint and I found a bland taste in my at the prospect of another perverted Lord coming to stay in hopes of winning my hand and allowing my parents to truly be free of me. So far not one of the Lords had managed to touch me without suffering pain and because they were all so egotistical, they would never admit to anyone else that a mere woman had managed to injure them, pompous assholes.

"Forgive my curiosity but whom, may I ask, is this guest?" I questioned, feigning interest so that my father could ramble on about the many extraordinary things the man had done, allowing me to think about other more important things as long as I nodded occasionally and looked as though I was interested.

"The King's son will be staying with us. Seeing as he is my best friend's son, if you do not treat him with the proper respect I will lock you in that miserable room of yours so long, the seasons will have changed."

This caught my attention. I knew of the close relationship between my father and the King, he took every opportunity to brag of it but I had never seen the Prince and now that I knew it was coming I felt the dread in my body spread. Fan-freaking-tastic. That was exactly what I needed right now, a Prince who thought he was above everyone else to ogle me and treat me like an accessory to complete his image.

"Of course, Father, I wouldn't dream of disrespecting the Prince in such a rude manor."

"You had better not or you will wish you hadn't been born."

_You already wish that._ For obvious reasons I did not say that aloud but I knew that my parents had not wanted me and I had long since accepted it. Snide remarks like that would get me no where if I wanted to be free of them and so I held my tongue and continued to eat breakfast as though nothing had happened.

After hastily finishing my breakfast, I excused myself and hurried to my room where I changed into much more comfortable attire and headed to the fields.


	3. Chapter 2

**Now I could apologize for not writing on this story for a year, but I assume everyone has either forgotten about it, or will enjoy rereading it and experiencing its beauty all over again. **

**But I digress.**

**Thank you if you decided to read this story and if you like it then great. If you don't then that is okay too. You obviously are delusional. **

**But enough of me sounding like an asshole…ONWARDS!**

**-White Pickett Fence**

_CHAPTER 2_

The fields were probably one of the least attractive places in the castle and, to be honest and frank, there are quite a few places I would rather have been able to go to. That being said, the fields are quite a convenient place to hide from the monsters I call parents. Neither one of them would ever be caught dead in the sun. God forbid their skin actually looked _healthy._ Alas, it was a pretty safe bet that I would get a solid morning of peace before I was called to watch my mother get fitted for another gown she was far too old to look good in.

As I approached the fields, I really didn't feel the need to do anything that I normally would do there. The news about the King's son coming had actually upset me quite a bit. How aggravating would he be? I was in no mood to babysit another visiting dignitary's juvenile spawn. I had had enough of a time trying to keep the last one from chasing his tail like a goddam puppy all day. I apologize; my sarcasm was showing again, wasn't it?

I heard several things about the prince. Who hadn't? Prince Wrens was the constant gossip of the ladies at court. "Oh did you hear about Prince Wrens? HE bought new shoes yesterday!" "You will never believe this but Prince Wrens just smiled at me" "Prince Wrens is the sexiest thing to walk the planet. I cannot live without him" "Me and Prince Wrens were made for each other. I can see it in his eyes." And on and on and on the comments went.

I had never really paid attention to any of the comments, but as his arrival seemed to loom upon my future now, I couldn't help but remember them. Curse those ladies and their obnoxiously shrill and easy to remember voices. If I ever get the chance to do some behind the scenes work, I will definitely try to—

-"BRAII LYNNE!"

I turned to look at where the sound was coming from. To my horror, my mother was marching towards me. _Oh heavens no. _I pleaded._ One morning of peace, was that really too much to ask?_

"Yes, mother?"

"What on earh are you doing out here? We need to prepare the Manor for the Prince. Did you really think I was going to let you fool around again this morning? I swear. Maria told me you were starting to become too independent. I should never have let you think for yourself so much."

Lady Maria-Elizabeth Lipson was my mother's very closest and dearest friend. No one had an opinion quite like Aunt Maria did. I don't mean that in a complimenting way whatsoever. If Maria had had any children, I probably would have used my impressive assassinating skills to free those poor children from her grasp. It would be doing them a kindness, I assure you.

"My sincerest apologies, Mother. How could I have been so inconsiderate, I must have forgotten to tell you about my previous commitment." _Lie. _"I already promised the Dahlia that I would help her in her sewing endeavors." _Lie._ "You know how much she struggles to get the stitching just right." _Lie. She was a better sewer than me…a difficult feat, I assure you. _"I hope that I haven't inconvenienced you." _Lie. Lie. Lie. Lie. Lie._ I could tell from the look in her eyes that she wasn't very impressed with me at the moment.

"No inconvenience at all. Do tell Dahlia that we miss her here around the Manor and that she doesn't visit enough"

Dahlia is my best friend in the sense that she is the only girl I can actually stand to be around and who hates my mother nearly as much as I do. Shockingly, my mother absolutely adored Dahlia and thought Dahlia was the perfect way to keep me from becoming a savage.

"Of course, Mother."

"But do be back before mid-afternoon. I do have some very important things that I need you to be present for."

"Of course, Mother."

"And do not be late. Breakfast this morning was unacceptable."

"Of course, Mother."

She narrowed her eyes at me before continuing. "I mean it. I don't care if your father has him doing something for him. I need you to be there. And don't embarrass me."

"Of course, Mother."

"Alright, off you go. I expect Dahlia is waiting for you.

"Of course, Mother.

I think she finally heard the sarcasm in that last one. I curtsy and turn to leave before she can begin criticizing me. With all possible lady-like haste, I head towards the stables.


End file.
